Herenton has comfortable lead

Facing his toughest competition since 1991, Willie Herenton has an advantage to be re-elected for a record fifth term as Memphis mayor, early returns indicate.

Herenton has 41.3 percent of the early vote. His two leading challengers trail behind: City Council member Carol Chumney has 31.6 percent, and former Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division head Herman Morris has 24.8 percent.

Despite Herenton's lead out of the polling gate, early returns indicate a majority of voters are dissatisfied with the incumbent: More than half of Memphis' early voters cast ballots against Herenton.

Despite poll after poll indicating a three-way split among Herenton, Morris and Chumney, the anti-Herenton voting bloc in Memphis was unable to unite behind a consensus candidate who would have otherwise toppled Herenton.

Instead, voters hoping to oust Herenton and his scandal-plagued administration split their votes between Chumney and Morris.

Should the early percentages mirror those from votes cast at the polls today, Herenton will win a historic fifth term. But he will do so with his smallest voter percentage ever, turning the formerly trailblazing Herenton into a career mayor who has overstayed his welcome with a majority of the Bluff City's voters.

Among those who want Herenton out is Guy Hall, an 82-year-old retiree who served 35 years at the U.S. Postal Service.

Though he now resides in Germantown, Hall lived most of his life in Orange Mound. In previous elections, he supported Herenton. But on Thursday, as voters headed to the polls, Hall stumped for Morris at the busy Raleigh-Frayser Senior Center.

"Herenton did a better job than any mayor that had been in office as far as moving the city forward," Hall said. "But Herenton is arrogant. He thinks everybody else but himself ain't got no sense. He wants to be a king."

Political rise and stumble

Herenton came to power at City Hall in 1991 when he defeated incumbent Mayor Dick Hackett by 172 votes and earned 49.4 percent of the vote. With that win, Herenton became the first elected black mayor of Memphis.

Four years later, in 1995, Herenton ran away with the election, garnering 74 percent of the vote. His closest competitor, John Baker, received 24 percent.

Herenton proved his enduring political strength in 1999 when he took on the Ford family political machine and its candidate, Joe Ford, the brother of former U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Sr. Herenton received 45.7 percent of the vote, compared to Ford's 25.1 percent, pro wrestler Jerry Lawler's 11.7 percent and former County Commissioner Pete Sisson's 11 percent

In running for a fourth term in 2003, Herenton trounced the competition, garnering 69.8 percent of vote, with his closest competitor, John Willingham, receiving 24.9 percent.

This year, amid scandals and indictments at City Hall, Herenton at times resorted to political theatrics to rally support.

In June, for example, Herenton alleged a plot by attorney Richard Fields and businessman Nick Clark to frame him in a sex scandal.

Then, as early voting began in September, Herenton and Acting City Attorney Elbert Jefferson claimed they received citizen complaints that the electronic voting machines did not allow voters to select Herenton's name. However, the pair did not furnish the public with records of those complaints, and the Shelby County Election Commission had not received unusually high reports of such problems. Early voting continued unabated.

Three-way challenge

Although 14 mayoral candidates appeared on the ballot this year, poll numbers and yard signs indicated early on the race had been narrowed to three candidates: Herenton, Morris and Chumney.

A former Herenton appointee, Morris served as president and CEO of Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division before the mayor removed him from the post in 2002. Following the MLGW billing scandal that engulfed his successor, Joseph Lee III, Morris announced a candidacy against Herenton on promises to fight corruption at City Hall.

Morris has run a tireless campaign that has gained momentum in recent weeks.

Thursday morning, as he entered to the polling station with his family, Morris was confident he had caught the tailwind to upset Herenton.

"We're going to win an election," Morris said before campaigning in South Memphis, Cordova, Hickory Hill and Midtown.

For City Council member Carol Chumney, a former state representative, the work on Election Day began at 6:15 a.m. with a radio interview on WHBQ-FM 107.5. She stumped at restaurants throughout the city, shaking hands with those among the breakfast and lunch crowds.

She stopped for lunch herself at the Picadilly on Elvis Presley, long known as one of Herenton's eateries. There, Chumney encountered blogger and radio talk show host Thaddeus Matthews. Once the head of an effort to recall Herenton, Matthews has become a staunch supporter of the mayor and the recipient of $2,500 in Herenton's campaign advertising money.

"I just said hello," Chumney said of the meeting.

While campaigning on Elvis Presley, Chumney joked with one of her volunteers. "We're working so hard, even Elvis is going to vote for me today," she said. At the next campaign stop, Lanier Middle School, a voter greeted Chumney at the polling station.

"I'm voting for you today, and my name is Elvis," he told Chumney.

"I couldn't believe it," Chumney recalled.

Herenton spent most of Election Day on wheels, including a chartered bus filled with volunteers as well as vans and trucks equipped with loudspeakers and billboards.

Campaign volunteers Michael McGhee and Clift Dates traveled the city in a black Ford Expedition with speakers strapped to the roof. At 2:30 p.m., the pair stood on the corner of Beale and Second. Dates puffed on a cigar as McGhee passed out stickers. "Together We Stand, Divided we WILL Fall," they read.